Is this a male or female Krib?

[Halliwell57]

I've recently bought 2 Krib's and I know for a fact that one is a female cause she's holding eggs (the first pic) but i'm not sure if the other is male as they look very similar, would anyone be able to confirm it for me?

There's 2 pics below but my camera isn't great and it's very shy!

 

[blksubykid]

Sort of looks like a female, but it is hard to tell by the pictures. You can easily sex them by looking at their overall shape. Males tend to be streamline while females have more of a "belly" on them plus more red on them as well.

 

[Batt58]

I would say 'F'

 

[Halliwell57]

Thanks for the replies, i thought he was a male. It may explain why they haven't formed a pair

 

[Titania]

That's definitely a female. And kribensis don't hold eggs; they are cave brooders.

 

[Halliwell57]

That's definitely a female. And kribensis don't hold eggs; they are cave brooders.

The employee at my LFS sold me the female as being 'heavily egg bound' i took it as i had what i thought was a lone male in my tank. The stomach of my female is quite swelled compared to all the other females that were in the tank, could it be something else that i need to worry about?

 

[Titania]

The employee at my LFS sold me the female as being 'heavily egg bound' i took it as i had what i thought was a lone male in my tank. The stomach of my female is quite swelled compared to all the other females that were in the tank, could it be something else that i need to worry about?

"Heavily egg bound" really just means that she's fully mature and ready to spawn. Holding is used to describe mouthbrooders who are currently incubating their eggs in their mouths, hence "holding" them.

She looks to be in perfect health, and would readily spawn if you had a male. If you do get a male, be prepared for the pair to terrorize your tank. I had a breeding group of kribensis in my 90 and the dominant breeding pair would have severums and silver dollars 10x their size cordoned off in 1/2 the tank.

My experience with breeding these guys is that they are very easy to breed, as long as you have caves for them and very, very good parents. They're awesome little fish, and one of the fish that I always have in at least one of my tanks. Congrats on getting such a nice girl!

 

[Halliwell57]

Thanks, i completely agree, they're amazing fish.

I have a pair of 'giant kribs' in my other tank, they haven't bred yet but often spend time in the cave together and they're already very territorial, they will chase off anything that comes anywhere near their pot!